The remotely piloted MQ-9 Reaper was the workhorse in the U.S. air campaign against Iran, Air Force leaders told Congress on May 20, even as the service’s fiscal 2027 budget request still pours the bulk of aircraft dollars into crewed fighters.
Having repeatedly proven their worth, unmanned aircraft will “play an increasingly important role as we build out into the future across the board,”…
ROME — The mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is set to expire at the end of 2026, despite renewed violence in the country that has already claimed the lives of six peacekeepers.
After years of U.S. pressure, the decision was taken by the UN…
VIENNA — Russia launched its largest nuclear exercises in years on Tuesday, mobilizing nearly 65,000 troops, over 200 missile launchers, 140 aircraft, 73 surface vessels and 13 submarines, including eight strategic nuclear submarines, in a three-day drill that runs through…
RIGA, Latvia — NATO’s plans to strengthen deterrence along its eastern flank envision an “autonomous zone” where only unmanned systems operate, with linked sensors, drones and long-range fires to detect and target invading Russian forces at the start of a conflict, alliance officials said on the sidelines of military exercises in Latvia last week.
Latvian troops tried out unmanned ground…
The Pentagon awarded Perennial Autonomy, a California-based startup making headlines for its counter-drone technology, a $500 million contract to accelerate its procurement of the defensive systems.
According to Monday’s press release, the decision to award the contract…
VIENNA — A NATO air policing jet has shot down what authorities suspect was a Ukrainian drone flying over Estonia, a first after several similar airspace incursions in the Baltic states.
The drone was shot down by a Romanian F-16 fighter jet stationed in Šiauliai…
PARIS — Sweden has picked France’s Naval Group to supply four of its FDI frigates in a deal that could be worth more than 40 billion Swedish kroner, or around US$4.2 billion, with the French offer beating proposals from Spain’s Navantia and the United Kingdom’s Babcock International.
The frigates are expected to cost a little over 10 billion Swedish kroner each, with the final price…
KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian company has produced the country’s first guided aerial bombs capable of striking targets “dozens of kilometers” behind enemy lines with 250-kilogram warheads, giving Kyiv a homegrown equivalent to Russia’s cheap, devastating glide bombs…
The U.S. Air Force is looking to repurpose offshore oil rigs into landing platforms to recover rocket boosters launched by the U.S. Space Force and private spaceflight companies.
The proposal, called Project Able Baker, would solve two problems, the Air Force said. First…
Federal authorities say a Chinese national who worked as a research scholar at the University of Michigan lied about his work on drones in the People’s Republic of China.
According to a criminal complaint filed last week, Chuan Wang allegedly denied involvement in the production of military products during an interview with customs officers in 2023 when in reality he ran a company that designs…
